Had my telephone appointment with my doctor this morning to see how I was getting on with the patches at 60 hours. I thought I would update here at the same time
Basically the chills and sweats the night before I placed my patch at 72 hours has pretty much gone, although when I change my patch at night (it is once morning and once night for 60 hours), I sometimes have mild withdrawal symptoms and don’t sleep as well as I do when I change it on the morning, but nothing like it was at 72 hours.
Only downside is I feel slightly more tired and the “drunk” feeling I had at 48 hours is there but nowhere near as bad.
I had been continuing the clonidine even though it has stopped working for withdrawal at 72 hours and I asked him if I should continue it and he said yes.
He said it might be working a bit. I think they most likely aren’t as they did stop and others had the same issue with them stopping working. I think if I get on with 60 hours well, I will ask to stop and see if the withdrawal comes back as I could always restart them and I would rather be off another med that isn’t doing anything, than taking it for no reason.
It also made me a lot more lethargic and sleepy initially which it might be still doing for no reason!
I had read that some brands of fentanyl patches work better due the concentration in the patches, and many others with withdrawal between patches found changing to the other brand worked much better.
I asked about this and named the other brand, but he said they can’t prescribe it which will be due to NHS cost as I know it is more expensive which is a massive shame as I had read so many people found this fixed the withdrawal for them.
With the NHS often different doctors surgeries have different rules on budget. Obviously mine is pretty strict as I know others in the UK that get the other brand.
So I will be continuing at 60 hours and speaking to him in 3 weeks. Please cross your fingers this stops the withdrawal and the slight issues I had fade.
I did check with him if I would be able to try something else if this doesn’t work as he once told me it was this or nothing, and he did say we could try other things so that is a relief.
I know many have better results with just slow release morphine, oxycodone, hydromorphone and also a lot better results with methadone, but I have doubts he would prescribe some of those which is a shame.
It is a massive shame that with the NHS, most care you get depends on costs to the NHS and where you live. The “NHS postcode lottery”.
